Victoria hold on to claim Shield title

The Commonwealth Bank Bushrangers have won the 2014-15 Bupa Sheffield Shield, with a draw in the final with the Alcohol.Think Again Western Warriors enough to see the Victorians claim the honours in Hobart.

Confronted with 96 overs to safely negotiate the final day of the domestic season, Victoria reached stumps at 4-158 to win their 29th Shield title.

Rob Quiney (53 from 163 balls), David Hussey (37 not out off 169) and Matthew Wade (nine not out off 99) defied a gallant Western Australia attack on a wicket that allowed only 26 wickets across the five days. 

Nathan Coulter-Nile was the pick of the Warriors bowlers on the final day, finishing with 2-31 from 18 overs despite being hampered with what looked like a left leg injury.

Warriors opener Marcus Harris was awarded man of the match for his brilliant double of 81 and 158 not out. 

Western Australia were looking to become the first team to win all three domestic trophies in the same year following victory in the Matador One-Day Cup and the Perth Scorchers' success in the KFC T20 Big Bash League.

The victory is the fourth Shield title for outgoing Bushrangers coach Greg Shipperd.

Shipperd took the helm of the Bushrangers in 2004 following the tragic death of David Hookes, guiding his charges to the title that season, along with back-to-back victories in 2008-09 and 2009-10.

"He’s probably been down the last couple of weeks, hasn’t he, the little fella," said Hussey.

"But he’s a fighter. I still think he’s got a lot of good coaching left in him. 

"He’s a great teacher of batting. He’s a very good friend of mine. 

"If Cricket Victoria could find a role for him they’d be better off for it."

Victoria’s win could also be the last for veteran pair Hussey and Chris Rogers.

Rogers made 112 in the first innings to move his Shield tally to 33 hundreds and first-class total to 72, while Hussey was an immovable object in the second innings, and says he's still unsure if he'll go around again for another season.

"I’ll spend a couple of weeks, enjoy some family time and make a decision then," he said.

"But it would be a pretty nice way to go out I reckon." 

Victoria finished first on the Shield table after 10 rounds, a remarkable feat considering the side played eight of their nine completed matches away from home due to the World Cup’s occupancy of the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The only sour note in the Shield triumph is a hamstring injury to star fast bowler James Pattinson.

Pattinson pulled up in the last ball before tea yesterday afternoon, re-injuring the same left hamstring that troubled him in Alice Springs late last month.

The 24-year-old was assessed by the Bushrangers medical staff early this morning, deeming the right-hander fit enough to bat before scans in Melbourne later this week will determine the extent of the damage.

Marcus Harris and Adam Voges came out swinging on day five, adding 53 runs in six overs before the Warriors skipper declared, leaving his men a standard Shield day’s play to capture the 10 necessary wickets.

Rogers and Quiney started positively, hitting three boundaries in the first two overs to entertain the idea that a run chase was indeed on before both men dropped anchor.

With no sideways movement, Voges dismantled the slip cordon in favour of men close in catching in front of the wicket, hoping for a mistimed drive or a ball that would hold up on the benign surface.

A first-wicket stand of 50 was broken shortly after the batsmen shook hands when Rogers played inside a Coulter-Nile delivery that tickled the left-hander’s off-stump.

Warriors coach Justin Langer praised Coulter-Nile following the match and the heavy workload the fast bowler has had to endure in the second half of the summer.

"I said after the BBL final I didn't think we could win the shield final unless 'Coults' was in it, because he gives that extra bit of pace," Langer said. 

"We've played on Gliderol Stadium [at Glenelg] and AB Field and Newcastle, some pretty flat eastern-states wickets, and I felt that we needed that extra little bit of spark.

"He has played five shield games in a row. He lost eight kilos, his 'skinnies' [skinfolds] are down to 40 or something. I think the penny has dropped him for him.

"For him to get through five Shield games in a row is a great tribute to him." 

Victoria entered lunch one down and remained that way shortly into the second session before Marcus Stoinis’s back-foot drive ricocheted off Cameron Bancroft’s right foot at bat pad on the off-side and looped up to Ashton Agar in a bizarre series of events that ended in the batsman dismissed for eight from 41 balls.

The resolute Quiney passed fifty for the second time in the match, but some slick glovework by Sam Whiteman up to the stumps had the left-hander caught down the leg side off the bowling of Andrew Tye (1-23).

Peter Handscomb was the final wicket to fall, out in the same fashion as Rogers, before the match wound down and the Victorian celebrations began.